I’ve included lots of pictures in this post, mostly because
Neva loves to see herself in pictures. And she’s super adorable. That’s another
very good reason…
 |
| See? I wasn't exaggerating when I said super adorable! |
{In case you’re reading my blog, and don’t know the
situation…Neva is my grandma, first and foremost, but we don’t call her
“Grandma Neva” anymore--because most days, she’s not old enough to have
grandchildren! So, if we called her Grandma, she wouldn’t even realize we were
talking to her.}
 |
| Grandma Neva with all 8 of her granddaughters. |
There is no doubt in my mind she would have cried on this
day…in the “normal years”, that is. {Normal years is the term I’ve adopted—it
refers to life prior to dementia. Sometimes, I put it in quotation marks
because who is completely normal, ever?!}.
Neva was still involved in the goodness and chaos of
planning a wedding. She traveled to Indiana for my shower, and attended
my church shower in Wisconsin. I’m not under any false hope that
she currently remembers these events. But we can show her the pictures, and she
does thoroughly enjoy seeing herself in her pictures J She was there. Physically
present.
 |
| March 2013: Picking out pictures for our wedding slideshow |
 |
| June 2013: A little blurry, I know--Shower Weekend in Indiana. After spending the morning at David's Bridal and enjoying lunch, our "Neva bear" got a quick nap in! |
 |
| June 2013: Both of my grandmas enjoying my shower in Indiana...each in their own way! |
 |
| September 2013: Shower in Wisconsin |
Well, you get the idea. We certainly weren't going to use dementia as an excuse to exclude Neva from any of this wedding fun! Now back to her 70th birthday...
"Somewhere in the World" is a song that was sung at my parents
wedding, and at ours after the parents and grandparents had been seated. Neva
was a prayer {ask almost anyone, they will confirm that she prayed a lot.} One of the reasons we picked this song was because of her. She
prayed for the man my mom would marry, and I know she prayed for the man I
would marry, too. {For as long as I can remember, I remember her repeatedly
telling me that she prayed for me often and prayed for the person I would marry
someday. She told me this back when boys still had “cooties”!}
I’ve wondered this many times in the last few years, but do
you think—when she gets to heaven, is there some kind of “highlight reel” that
captured these moments so she could see them and enjoy them? Or do our
day-to-day lives and even big milestones not matter in light of eternity? I
want to think that she’ll be able to fully enjoy some of these moments that,
although she was physically present for, may not have been mentally captured.
How many wedding guests are cool enough to sign the guest
book twice? Our Neva. We had a “guest bench” for everyone to sign, and Neva’s
signature can be found on there twice. {My guess? She was with someone who told
her to sign it, and she did. Later, she was with someone else who signed in and
had her sign it then, too!}
I wore a ring that belonged to Neva, as well. This diamond
ring originally belonged to my Great Grandma Eleanor, so it definitely
qualified for my “something old”.
Here's a few more pictures that are just begging to be shared...
 |
| Neva and her brother, John |
 |
| Seating of the grandparents {Neva with her son, Daniel} |
 |
| Neva and her sister, Kay |
 |
| Neva with her personal attendant, Charity--this girl did a wonderful jump of ensuring Neva was well taken care of, especially during our ceremony and reception! Thanks again, Charity! |
 |
| Sam and Neva |
During the reception, we sang “Happy Birthday” to
Neva…because it was her 70th birthday, after all. When we picked our
wedding dates 15 months prior, she was willing to share her birthday with
us…but only if there was cake! {As promised, we DID have cake!}
70 years young. I can’t think of a better way for her to
have celebrated her big birthday—in her “normal years” or now. She attended her
granddaughters wedding and was surrounded by the people who love her the most.
God is good, and I’m so thankful she was there J
